Sokei-an Sasaki (1882–1945), in many respects, was the original Dharma Bum: a sculptor, poet, Zen student, and journalist whose favorite subject was America. He arrived in San Francisco in 1906 with the mission of bringing Zen to America. After his teacher returned to Japan in 1910, he wandered alone through the American West and came to live a wild bohemian life in 1920s Greenwich Village. With charm and good humor, he conveys his childhood in Japan, his transformation through Zen, his experiences teaching Zen to New Yorkers (which led to the founding of the First Zen Institute of America), his run-in with the FBI, and his internment on Ellis Island.